Mere static electricity can easily reach a high enough voltage to arc 1 cm, so I'm sure a lightening strike covering a much higher distance has the ability to jump the power switch (plus I lost a high end Sony amplifier this way that was turned off during a strike in the yard).
I think he was talking about curcuitry and devices that were powered on when lightning strikes the power line. They would have been damaged heaviliy.
So it may are may not be a co-incident that his gear failed that time.
